Wondering out loud, Charity asked, “Did Jack, Ethan, and Adam ever do something like that, that just made you lose your cool?”
Grace got a faraway look and chuckled softly. “Remember that white corset I wore on our wedding day?”
“The one you wore under your wedding dress?”
Grace nodded. “We got back from the honeymoon and Adam was unpacking our luggage. He found it in the bedroom where I’d left it after our wedding night and wanted to be helpful so he did some laundry. He put it in the washing machine, not realizing it had steel stays in it.”
Charity cringed. “Oh no. Did it get ruined?”
Grace’s whole body shook as she nodded. “Along with the washing machine. One of the stays got ripped out and wedged.” She let out a contagious peal of laughter and Charity joined in.
“What did you do?” Charity asked when she could talk.
“Well, it was the corset I wore in my bridal portrait and on my wedding day, so it had sentimental value. He told me he thought it was ruined but I hadn’t seen the totality of the mess yet.”
“What did you do? Cry?” That was the natural assumption since Grace was so even tempered, especially where her men were concerned. Her sister was a total soft touch.
“No! I was so pissed off I couldn’t see straight. I mean, it had steel stays in it. You could feel them if you checked, but he didn’t. He just put it in with all my other delicate stuff.” She nodded and arched an eyebrow when Charity gasped.
“All of it? Loose in the washer?” At Grace’s emphatic nod, she asked, “Did he ruin all of it?”
“Mmm-hmm, everything they’d bought for me that I wore when I posed for the portraits, and items I’d purchased for the honeymoon. It was all a tangled, unraveled, steel-boned lingerie suicide, there in the ruined washing machine. The three of them couldn’t believe it when they saw what’d happened.”
“What did you do?”
“I didn’t have to do anything. I watched while they tried to get the mess he’d made all unknotted and didn’t say a word.”
“No?”
“Not a word. After a while they gave up. They replaced it all, same as Ransome and Val are doing for you.”
“And you made them swear to never touch your shit again, right?”
Grace grinned. “No, after they replaced it, I showed them the proper way to handle all my lingerie. You should’ve seen their eyes—like a new calf looking at a gate. They’ve never touched any of my lingerie ever since.”
“That’s one way to handle it. I think I traumatized my guys.”
Grace shrugged. “They’ll never forget again, will they?”
“Nope.”
As she inspected a small straw cowboy hat, Grace said, “Don’t worry, sis. They’ll get the hang of being with you. Something’s bound to go cock-eyed every now and then. You talk about it and move on, right? Next time, when Justin gives them a heads-up about something, they’ll listen better.”
Charity nodded, smiling as she recalled the apology that had been so obvious in their eyes. “It’s not like I won’t screw up occasionally, too, I suppose.”
An hour later, they were standing at the cashier register while Bernadette got all of their purchases ready to total up.
“Have you heard from Jessica Bright?” Charity asked.
“Yes. Bella is nearly a month old and growing like a weed.” Grace was quiet for a second and then softly said, “I think Tank and Troy are a little smitten with both Jessica and Bella, although Jessica seems oblivious. She’s helping Lydia in the ranch kitchen when she can and I think she has put out feelers for a job.”
“What does she do?” Charity asked as she held open the door and carried their purchases out for Grace, who was under orders to not lift anything.
“She’s an optometrist. She’s considering staying in the area since she likes it here so much. At least she seems like something is holding her here in the area. I like knowing she’s with Lydia and LuAnn and they seem determined for her to stay in the area. Jessica and the baby are safe out there for now. She thinks they may have figured out how Dornan traced her to Divine.”
“How?”
“The guys and Lydia took her to Houston to check her mail and her apartment.”
“Was it broken into?”
“Not in an obvious way, but her desktop computer was missing.”
“Oh, so he must’ve found proof of where she was staying somehow?”
“That’s what they think anyway. It makes me nervous to think of him still out there somewhere. Jessica deserves a chance to have a normal life for her and her baby.”